Two Elon University seniors, in coordination with the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, led a group of local high school students last month to an entrepreneurship and the arts conference in Greensboro, N.C.
Elon University seniors Sam Italiano and Mat Goldberg led a group of Alamance County high school students last month to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro’s annual Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference.
With the support of Professor Kevin O’Mara and the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Italiano and Goldberg coordinated with the Handmade Co-Op mentor program to bring Cummings High School students to the Feb. 22 program. The mentor program started this year with the high school’s art club to use creative expression as a source for personal and professional development.
The conference marks the second field trip for the mentor program. Cummings students visited Elon’s campus last fall to participate on the low ropes course and attend the musical “Ragtime.”
At the conference, Elon students and program mentors Danielle Brown ’17 and Lauren Sollenberger ’17 also connected with the Cummings students and strengthened relationships outside of the classroom.
Kyle Webster, an illustrator, designer and app creator, was among the group’s favorite speakers. His talk “Domino Dancing” discussed how creativity and innovation helps people control their circumstances, and he encouraged his audience to recognize the how “one thing leads to another.”
Founded in 2012, the mission of the Handmade Co-Op is to “endorse and support local
artists, support the creation of unique art in the local community, connect the community to the local university, and sell art that creates a positive impact” in the Burlington and Elon communities.
In addition, Goldberg brought three artists belonging to the Artifacts Cooperative to the conference. The Artifacts Cooperative is a community of artists affiliated with the Interactive Resource Center, a Greensboro homeless day center, who create and sell art while learning entrepreneurial skills.
To learn more about becoming a Handmade Co-Op mentor, email elonhandmade@gmail.com. To view art and read stories of Artifacts artists, click here.